US Partner News Online for Friday, January 22, 2015

Welcome to this week’s issue of the US Partner News Online. We’ll connect you to resources to help you be market-ready, connect with customers and prospects, and differentiate your business. You can read previous weeks’ issues at https://aka.ms/uspnewsletter.

Catch Up on This Week’s Windows 10 AnnouncementsThe next generation of Windows is Windows 10. Catch up on the announcements from Wednesday's media briefing about delivering Windows as a Service, the free upgrade to Windows 10 for many customers, and the myriad new experiences for Windows users.

The Next Chapter of Office on WindowsIn partnership with Windows 10, the Office team is bringing a fantastic new set of Office experiences to this platform, bringing the unparalleled productivity of Office to everyone, on every device.

WPC 2015: Registration Price Increase on January 29Save $200 on your WPC 2015 attendance when you register for our annual partner conference before January 29. This year, we’ve redesigned our sessions to better fit your learning style and the way you do business. Look for announcements soon about Partner of the Year Awards and US partner activities.

MPN Cloud Performance Competencies – How to Get StartedIf you have an active practice around Microsoft Office 365 or Microsoft Azure, consider attaining a Cloud Performance competency. Through June 30, the Silver competency fee for these is waived, and you can enter Gold level at a reduced price.

Free Technical Content for Your Customer-Facing Blogs and Newsletters Newsletters and blogs are great ways to keep in touch and capture the mindshare of your customers, but it’s sometimes hard to keep up with creating useful, relevant content. Join the Simple Tech Tips Program, and get free tech tips and other technology content you can use as-is in your own communications.

February 13: US SMB Partner Insider CallsJoin your Microsoft Regional team for the latest Microsoft information and resources for US partners serving SMB customers, giving you the opportunity to be among the first to know what’s happening.

New MPN Competency Exam Pack Offer – Save Up to 25% and Get a Second ShotMeet your partner organization’s certification goals and MPN competency requirements. Buy 10 exams and save 25%, or buy 5 exams and save 15%. For exams you take by May 31, you get a free retake (Second Shot) if you need it. This is a whole new Second Shot. You no longer need to pre-register, but can easily find and register for your retake on your Learning dashboard, and you will have 30 days from taking your exam to schedule your retake.

Training and certification

Stay informed about opportunities that align to your business and role. For real-time updates and reminders about upcoming training, follow @mslearningcurve on Twitter.

February Hot Sheet: Register for Training, Office Hours, and Community CallsThe Hot Sheet is a frequently updated schedule of live virtual and in-person training, Office Hours, and community calls that are coming in the next few weeks. The current Hot Sheet has listings for the rest of January, all of February, and into early March, so you can plan ahead. Subscribe to the US Partner Learning blog to receive the Hot Sheet in your email inbox.

January 27: Govloop Training – The Real Journey to the CloudGovernment agencies at all levels are using cloud technology to modernize their business applications and fuel digital transformation. Topics in this webcast include security and privacy issues, private vs. public cloud, best practices, and more.

January 27: Windows Apportal Office HoursAttend this one-hour call to learn more about adding Windows Apportals to your offerings. With an Apportal, customers can stack all of their line of business applications into a single, modern, touch-based experience.

February 5: Office 365 Partner Community CallJoin the US National Partner Technology Strategy team for February’s Office 365 Partner community call about OneDrive for Business. You’ll get an in-depth look at this topic and learn how you can build a practice around it, sell more of it, and implement with success.

February 10: Creative Marketing WebcastJoin Duane Forrester from Bing and Elizabeth Parker from Bing Ads for a highly valuable session about Digital Marketing. They will share industry experience, insights, and advice on how digital marketing can help you transform your business in the cloud. This includes considering the evolved consumer decision journey, creating inbound lead generation, audience segmentation for lead capture, the basics of search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), and the options to getting started.

Featured video

Watch this video for a first look at Office for Windows 10 on tablets—Excel, Word, and PowerPoint will be touch-optimized for even more productivity and ways to interact with content.

Calendar through February 6

The list below is a sampling of upcoming partner calls, training, and events. Refer to the February Hot Sheet for a comprehensive, frequently updated list covering the next several weeks.